I just wanted to jot a few things before time goes on and I don't get my thoughts down. A lot of my random thoughts could probably be a blog post in and of themself, but I'm not going to dedicate that much time to it right now.
1. We just got back from a quick trip to Columbus. Richard's parents live there. His Dad has had a tough medical journey the past few years and is kind of tired of it all- ready to move on. Recently they discovered cancer by his esophogus and have decided not to treat it. From what I understand, they estimated him to live from a few weeks to a few months. So we wanted to go down so Richard could see his Dad. The timing worked out well, he already had a week off scheduled. We went out to eat one night- there is a place down the street from the nursing home that he could just ride his scooter too, and brought in McDonalds another night. Uncle Ray, Aunt Shawna and cousin Alex were there too. The whole experience has made me think a lot about something we talked about in OT classes- making the disabled's lived in world as large as possible. Richard's Dad can no longer transfer from his scooter to a car- therefore he can seldom get out. He was so excited to go to K-Mart on a nursing home field trip- and this is someone who normally would not be excited about going to K-Mart, but if it's your only chance to get out (he can be lifted into the van and stay on his scooter) you look forward to it. Once they were there, they really only had about 45 minutes to shop. He was happy to get an Icee and have a smoke break. It made me think- what happens if you have treatment on the day of the scheduled trip and can't go, what if you aren't able to go because the # of patients in wheelchairs/scooters is very limited... How small does your world become. A year or two ago- he was living his own life, but now is so dependent on what is available through the nursing home and everyone elses's schedule- how hard that must be. Once I have my OTA degree I'm qualified to be an activities director, something I've thought about.
While we were there we went to the Olentangy Indian Caverns- everyone really enjoyed it. The caverns and history of it were vey cool. We also enjoyed gem mining (even me- I love a treasure hunt!), there were animals out to pet- I loved it that they were just free roaming- there was a bully goat that ended up eating the bag that Jayna was feeding him from, and Jayna also enjoyed the playground. Nice little day.
2. Fair memories- past and present- We took the kids to the county fair and had a good time. It had been a few years since we had gone- Jayna didn't even remember going- so it was time to go. The fair reminds me of being a kid- having animals at the fair we would be there basically everyday of the fair- my Dad would give us $20 or so to spend during the week- a taste of freedom- then I also met my sweet hubby at the fair- so some really good memories. My goat and chicken did okay, but our lambs always placed lousily! We didn't ride rides because we have Darien Lake passes and it seemed silly to pay so much to ride there, but we enjoyed yummy fair food (gyro, sausage sandwich, corn dogs, nachos, fried cheescake!), watching shows (sea lion, duck races, acrobats) and playing games. Andrew and Whitney came home with a total of 4 goldfish (which are suprisingly still alive), and Jayna a light up sword which she has managed to torture everyone with. Jayna enjoyed seeing the animals and Whitney really hoped to be able to bottle feed a baby calf , but it was by raffle and she wasn't picked. She is a true animal lover- it is so natural in her (unlike me), she did enjoy petting the rescued greyhound.
3. School starts soon for everyone- I had great plans that over the summer I would come up with how to make things feel more balanced than last year, but.... not much has been accomplished. I hope to rely more on God this year, and pray that I don't stress out so much.
Just read- Give a Boy a Gun by Todd Strasser- a must read for parents of teens and educators
And so it goes...
1 comment:
I'm glad you're home and can't wait to talk about how it all went. I completely understand what you mean about the world being "small" for people with disabilities. Some of the residents in the orphanage in El Salvador have NEVER left the premises. Isn't that sad?? I do what I can to expand their lives within the walls of the orphanage, but sometimes I feel like I really don't do much. I guess all any of us can do is our best.
I am dreading school starting. You? I too have grand intentions for balancing my life, but my grand intentions so often go unfulfilled.
Let's get together sometime next week (if you can) before the craziness of school begins.
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